[Category Events, Newsletters, Uncategorized]
Dear Friends,
Tangents: Happy Fridy Eve.
Carolann is away from the office attending the Bloomberg Conference, so I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.
March 5, 1770: The Boston Massacre takes place when British soldiers fire into a crowd of colonists, killing five men and escalating tensions leading to the American Revolution. History.com
March 5, 1824: The First Anglo-Burmese War begins between the British Empire and the Burmese Empire in Southeast Asia. Britannica.com
March 5, 1946: Winston Churchill delivers his famous “Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton, Missouri, warning about the division of Europe during the early Cold War. History.com
March 5, 1963: Country music stars Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Cowboy Copas die in a plane crash near Camden, Tennessee. History.com
March 5, 2013: Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, dies after a long battle with cancer. BBC.com
Gerardus Mercator, Flemish cartographer and geographer, b. 1512.
Rex Harrison, British actor, b. 1908.
Andy Gibb, British-Australian singer and member of the Bee Gees family, b. 1958.
Eva Mendes, American actress, b. 1974.
Groundbreaking new drug shows promise for treating children with a devastating form of epilepsy
An experimental treatment reduces seizures and other symptoms in children with a type of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome.
Scientists taught robots to swim through mazes using Einstein’s relativity
The tiny bots follow patterns of light and “artificial space-time,” navigating like craft following the curved space around a black hole.
A 12th-century sword spotted jutting out of the seabed in Israel was designed for one-handed combat during the Crusades.
Sodium-ion batteries are getting ready for prime time. How can they improve EVs?
With potential safety improvements and lower manufacturing costs, Na-ion batteries are coming of age at precisely the right time
Daylight saving time 2026: When does the time change, and why?
When does daylight saving time begin in 2026? Here’s a look at when the time changes this year, and why we change our clocks in the first place.
Chinese EV maker claims it’s engineered the world’s first semi-solid-state EV battery with huge 620-mile rangeResearchers say the new battery design could significantly extend electric-vehicle driving range in the future
He’s 77 and a heart attack survivor. Now he’s trying to ride a motorcycle around the world
He got his first motorcycle at 15, and Steven Barnett, originally from Los Angeles, has ridden across nearly 80 countries in the five decades since.
Before Korean food was cool, Corey Lee was already redefining it
Long before he became the first Korean chef to earn three Michelin stars, Corey Lee grew up in a New Jersey suburb where Korean food was scarce. Gochujang paste wasn’t a household staple, and kimchi wasn’t a trendy topping in hip urban eateries.
Is it cool to hate cats now? Jessie Buckley and Doechii seem to think so
It is an irrefutable truth: the Internet loves cat videos.
Now, a pair of well-known personalities have taken it upon themselves to publicly oppose the felines that inspire all those adorable and zany clips, issuing statements that have clearly elicited, er, catty responses.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY
London, England
An aerial view of the palm house at Kew Gardens, which is to undergo its first renovation works since the 1980s
Photograph: Oliver Dixon/Shutterstock
Montasik, Indonesia
People walk down a road running through paddy fields at sunrise
Photograph: Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP/Getty Images
Val di Fassa, Italy
Breezy Johnson of the US trains for the women’s World Cup downhill race
Photograph: Marco Trovati/AP
Market Closes for March 5th , 2026
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| Dow Jones |
47954.74 | -784.67 |
| -1.61% | ||
| S&P 500 | 6830.71 | -38.79 |
| -0.56% | ||
| NASDAQ | 22748.99 | -58.49 |
| -0.26% | ||
| TSX | 33609.97 | -332.89 |
| -0.98% |
International Markets
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| NIKKEI | 55278.06 | +1032.52 |
| +1.90% | ||
| HANG SENG |
25321.34 | +71.86 |
| +0.28% | ||
| SENSEX | 80015.90 | +899.71 |
| +1.14% | ||
| FTSE 100* | 10413.94 | -153.71 |
| -1.45% |
Bonds
| Bonds | % Yield | Previous % Yield |
| CND. 10 Year Bond |
3.350 | 3.276 |
| CND. 30 Year Bond |
3.805 | 3.751 |
| U.S. 10 Year Bond |
4.1363 | 4.0959 |
| U.S. 30 Year Bond |
4.7528 | 4.7341 |
| BOC Close | Today | Previous |
| Canadian $ | 0.7316 | 0.7333 |
| US $ |
1.3699 | 1.3635 |
| Euro Rate 1 Euro= |
Inverse | |
| Canadian $ | 0.6301 | 1.5869 |
| US $ |
0.8613 | 1.1609 |
Commodities
| Gold | Close | Previous |
| London Gold Fix |
5148.55 | 5033.65 |
| Oil | ||
| WTI Crude Future | 78.76 | 75.98 |
Market Commentary:
On this day in 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt invoked the war powers conferred upon the presidency and ordered the nation’s banks to close for the next four days to forestall panic and to prevent the hoarding of gold. The “bank holiday” stopped the run on the banks and began to restore public confidence.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 1% at 33,609.97 in Toronto.
The index dropped to the lowest closing level since Feb. 19 after the previous session’s increase of 0.5%.
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.8%.
Capstone Copper Corp. had the largest drop, falling 9.7%.
Today, 146 of 217 shares fell, while 71 rose; 9 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss 19 times. The next day, it advanced 15 times for an average 1.3% and declined four times for an average 2.1%
* This quarter, the index rose 6%
* So far this week, the index fell 2.1%, heading for the biggest decline since the week ended Jan. 30
* The index advanced 35% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 18% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.7% below its 52-week high on March 2, 2026, and 51.2% above its low on April 7, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 2.6% in the past 5 days and rose 5% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.8 on a trailing basis and 17.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.2% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$5.36t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 19.92% compared with 19.68% in the previous session and the average of 17.78% over the past month
Index Points
Materials | -276.9660| -3.9| 6/50
Financials | -104.9382| -1.0| 8/16
Industrials | -23.6521| -0.7| 8/21
Energy | -8.5549| -0.2| 17/20
Communication Services| -4.0175| -0.6| 1/4
Consumer Discretionary| -3.2029| -0.3| 4/5
Health Care | -1.2538| -1.5| 0/4
Utilities | -1.1429| -0.1| 7/7
Real Estate | -0.7242| -0.2| 8/11
Consumer Staples | 1.3802| 0.1| 5/5
Information Technology| 90.1760| 3.6| 7/3
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd | -53.2300| -4.8| 15.5| 30.2
Wheaton Precious Metals | -25.1700| -3.8| 1.9| 25.2
Cameco | -23.8700| -4.8| 7.7| 24.3
Constellation Software | 20.3800| 5.5| 20.7| -15.3
Canadian Natural Resources | 25.0500| 2.9| 99.8| 33.3
Shopify | 64.2100| 4.3| 3.3| -16.6
Methanex | 7.1| 2.3990| 127.0| 43.3
Strathcona Resources | 5.7| 0.5240| 51.6| 15.5
Maple Leaf Foods | 5.6| 0.7860| 54.1| 13.6
Capstone Copper | -9.7| -5.3830| 55.8| -16.4
ERO Copper | -9.0| -2.8100| 1.6| 1.5
First Quantum Minerals | -8.4| -14.9300| 10.3| -5.9
(MT Newswires)
The Toronto Stock Exchange closed sharply lower Thursday, paring earlier losses as investors reacted to escalating tensions in the Middle East amid the ongoing U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.
The resources-heavy S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 322.89 points, or 0.98%, to 33,609.97, pulling back from Wednesday’s close of 33,942.86 and 931.3 points below the Monday record close of 34,541.27.
Most sectors finished lower over Thursday’s session.
Base Metals led the decliners, down 4.88%, followed by Health Care, down 1.93%, Financials, down 1.00%, Industrials, down 0.67%, Telecom, down 0.42%, and Utilities, down 0.09%.
Information Technology led gainers, up 2.94%, followed by Battery Metals Index, up 1.26%, and Energy, up 0.88%.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude surged to a 23-month high Thursday, rising for a fifth straight session as supply concerns intensified amid the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for about 20% of global oil flows.
WTI crude for April delivery jumped US$6.35 to settle at US$81.01 per barrel, it’s highest since April 2024, while May Brent crude was last seen up US$4.32 at US$85.72.
The rally comes as the conflict threatens shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, with Reuters reporting that Iran attacked a tanker in the Persian Gulf on Thursday, setting it on fire.
Gold moved lower Thursday afternoon as the U.S. dollar strengthened and markets steadied after earlier volatility tied to geopolitical tensions.
The precious metal for April delivery was last seen down US$52.20 at US$5,082.50 per ounce after sharp declines earlier in the week as investors sold the metal to take profits and cover losses during the equity selloff.
In agricultural commodities, Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) said Thursday it recorded its strongest February on record for grain movement, shipping more than 2.67-million tonnes from Western Canada as demand remained elevated during the peak shipping season.
Turning to domestic economic data, analysts also pointed to continued weakness in Canada’s housing market.
Seasonally adjusted home sales in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) decreased by 4.9% between January and February, said National Bank of Canada, citing Thursday’s data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.
The decline follows a 11% drop in January, which was attributed at the time to poor weather conditions, noted the bank.
However, the further decline in February indicates that the weakness in Toronto’s residential market is not solely due to the vagaries of Mother Nature, or else transactions would have rebounded in February, the bank said.
Despite the Bank of Canada’s interest-rate cuts last fall, sales have declined for seven consecutive months, erasing all progress made since April 2025, when uncertainty about the trade dispute with the United States negatively impacted buyers’ confidence, added the bank.
Overall, the housing shortage in Canada is mainly the result of an unprecedented demographic shock between 2022 and 2024, a period during which the creation of households far exceeded new construction, significantly worsening housing affordability, National Bank said.
Elsewhere in consumer data, Canada’s auto sales held up relatively well in February despite broader economic headwinds.
In Canada, two million auto units annualized were sold in February, down just 0.2% year over year and still a “respectable” performance given the weather challenges and broader economic headwind, said Bank of Montreal (BMO).
The Feb. 16 rollout of the new federal electric vehicle incentive may have provided a small lift, though it’s too early to gauge the impact, as Marc data will offer the first clearer read, noted the bank.
Global developments are increasingly shaping North American auto dynamics, stated BMO.
In fixed-income markets, long provincial bond returns struggled over the past month in Canada alongside a backup in bond yields and some widening of spreads into March, said BMO.
Provincial total returns slipped just over 1% in the long end, in part due to spreads moving up off extremely low levels, wrote the bank in a note to clients.
Geopolitical conflict in the Middle East has applied some upward pressure to yields globally, pared back expectations for central bank easing — namely the Federal Reserve given the inflation impulse from higher oil — and turned down the broad market risk appetite, stated BMO.
The Canadian economy is “still dealing with the burden of U.S. tariffs, but the impact is uneven across the country, and conditions are beginning to drift apart.”
BMO Economics is forecasting 1.3% real GDP growth this year, down slightly from 1.7% in 2025.
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc will head to Washington, D.C., for meetings tomorrow, his office confirms, reported The Canadian Press.
His visit comes as the review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement is underway.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said during a media briefing in Australia that Canada’s free trade pact with the United States “effectively has been broken in the short-term by U.S. actions.”
He said certain protocols under CUSMA were not followed when the United States imposed tariffs on Canada, Canadian Press reported.
Additionally, economists noted productivity growth in Canada remained close to historical norms.
Canada’s labor productivity growth was surprisingly “normal” in 2025, as the full-year pace matched the near-50-year median of just over 1%, said BMO.
The bank noted that Statistics Canada recently discontinued its measure of “total” labor productivity, due to measurement difficulties in the non-business sectors, so BMO is only looking at the business sector.
That masks plenty of quarterly swings given the heavy trade uncertainty, the improvement was concentrated in Q3, and Q4 had a small negative as the economy contracted at a deeper pace than the decline in hours worked, stated the bank.
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A slide in chipmakers dragged down stocks while a bond selloff deepened amid a spike in oil as headlines continued to depict war escalating in Iran and the Middle East.
Bitcoin slumped.
While the S&P 500 bounced from session lows, most of its shares fell.
A key gauge of semiconductor firms dropped 1.2% as Bloomberg News reported the US is considering requiring permits for artificial-intelligence chip sales.
The US-Israeli war on Iran waged for a sixth day with little sign of easing, extending a surge in energy prices. US oil settled around $81 on signs the conflict is disrupting crude flows to key buyers, with top importer China moving to conserve fuel.
The Trump administration is weighing a range of options for addressing the surge in oil and gasoline prices, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said.
A global bond rout showed no respite, with the 10-year Treasury yield rising for a fourth straight day on concern that higher oil prices will fuel inflationary pressures that could hinder the Federal Reserve’s ability to cut rates.
In the run-up to the payrolls report, data showed jobless claims are settling around some of the lowest levels in the last year amid a low-firing environment.
Friday’s employment report is expected to show hiring moderated last month after a strong reading in January while unemployment held steady.
“The stronger the better given the increase in inflation expectations due to energy prices,” the JPMorgan Market Intelligence desk led by Andrew Tyler said.
“A weaker number will increase rate cut expectations, but the risk is stagflation in the near term.”
The S&P 500 lost 0.6%.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed three basis points to 4.13%.
The dollar added 0.4%.
Fed Bank of Richmond President Tom Barkin said the central bank’s response to the war will depend on how long the impact on the economy lasts.
Swaps priced in less than 40 basis points of rate cuts by year-end, compared with 60 basis points at the end of last week.
Assuming the conflict is resolved over the coming weeks, the spike in oil will likely prove transitory, with Brent trading back down to the forward curve strip price of around $65, according to Chris Senyek at Wolfe Research.
“If the equilibrium for oil settles in higher, there is clearly still upward pressure on the 10-year yield,” he said.
Higher oil prices raise the risk of another breakdown in stock-bond correlations, but bonds can still diversify equity risk, according to Morgan Stanley strategists including Serena Tang.
“If a sustained oil shock could push growth lower and inflation higher, we may see a repeat of the 2021–2023 environment when stocks and bonds sold off together,” they said.
Whether short- or long-duration bonds provide better diversification depends on whether inflation risks or growth concerns dominate going forward, the strategists concluded.
Corporate Highlights:
* Oracle Corp. is planning to ax thousands of jobs, among its moves to handle a cash crunch from a massive AI data center expansion effort.
* Broadcom Inc. Chief Executive Officer Hock Tan said the company expects its AI chip sales to top $100 billion next year.
* Morgan Stanley is eliminating about 3% of its global workforce, targeting employees in its investment-banking and trading businesses as well as the wealth and asset-management operations.
* Berkshire Hathaway Inc. CEO Greg Abel said he will use all of his take-home pay to acquire the conglomerate’s stock for as long as he’s in the role.
* Baker Hughes Co. priced $10 billion of dollar and euro bonds to help fund its acquisition of Chart Industries Inc.
What Bloomberg Strategists say…
“Crude’s upswing is exerting upward pressure on yields and, by extension, underpinning the dollar and weighing on equities, reflecting the US’s relatively insulated position as a major net energy exporter amid this latest supply crunch.”
—Brendan Fagan, Macro Strategist, Markets Live.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.6%
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1610
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3365
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 157.48 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 2.8% to $71,300.88
* Ether fell 2.7% to $2,093.33
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 4.13%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced nine basis points to 2.84%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced 10 basis points to 4.54%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 6.2% to $79.31 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 1.3% to $5,075.36 an ounce
Have a lovely evening.
Be magnificent!
As ever,
Shima
“The best vision is insight.”– Malcolm Stevenson Forbes “Steve”.-1919 – 1990
Shima Zangeneh
Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff
Queensbury Securities Inc.
340A – 730 View Street
Victoria BC V8W 3Y7
Tel: 778-430-5851
Fax: 778-430-5828